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Posted Oct. 9, 2017, 2:01 p.m.

Today Propellerhead are launching Rack Extension subscriptions. And I dare say it’s the first time plug-in subscriptions are done the way they should have been in the first place.

First, let me get a few things straight. Subscriptions are not replacing sales. You can still buy all Rack Extension products as usual, and we absolutely have no plans to change that. Secondly, Rack Extension instruments and effects are more popular with you musicians than they ever have been, even after we introduced VST support. Thirdly, Propellerhead are as dedicated to the Rack Extension format as we ever have been. There’s lots of stuff in the RE pipeline.

With that out of the way, let me get back to why our subscriptions make more sense than anybody else’s. Other company’s subscriptions usually mean one of two things. Either you subscribe to one product at a time which gets really expensive and a pain to manage. Or you subscribe to a fixed bunch of products, usually all from the same manufacturer. This means you end up paying for a bunch of stuff you really didn’t want. Not good.

So, what if you could choose between hundreds of products, creating your own personal mix of plugs from a huge selection of manufacturers? And what if you could just switch out the ones you find that you didn’t use as much as you thought, only to add completely new and fresh products, even ones that just came out? What if you could up- and down-size your music arsenal freely, between those periods when you make a lot of music and the other times when your life is filled with other things than making tracks (yeah, right).

All that is exactly what Propellerhead subscriptions are all about. Letting you mix and match your musical life in the way that’s best for you.

With this freedom, there are a million ways you could organize your plug-in life. Let me just share my one favorite. With Reason comes an amazing set of devices and those will always be the backbone of the rig, for all of us. In addition to that, most people add a few essential Rack Extensions, those select ones that you learn really well and use on almost all projects. And now, on top of that you can add a subscription that you vary over time, with projects, with musical styles you’re into or with new techniques you want to explore and learn.

The Reason devices. The REs you own. The mix of instruments and effects you get from subscribing. The best of three worlds rolled into one.

Posted Oct. 9, 2017, 2:01 p.m.

Posted Sept. 22, 2017, 8:58 a.m.

We're extremely happy to announce Reason 10!

Reason 10 is the biggest content upgrade we've ever done, and that's saying something. For this upgrade we wanted to make sure music makers had a fantastic set of instruments and sounds right out of the box. I definitely think we delivered.

Europa is a feature-rich dynamic wavetable synth that picks up where Thor left off. I'm particularly fond of how many different types of sounds it can do well, from those ridiculously big and wide modern sounds to esoteric sound design and creamy analog emulations. Grain on the other hand take a different approach to synthesis. As the first true granular synth in Reason it breathes new life into your samples. I've already re-sampled tons of parts of my songs and twisted them into new sounds! Make sure you try and drop any and all samples you've got into it and see what comes out.

Klang, Pangea and Humana join Radical Piano in Reason 10 to make sure you have a great selection of realistic, acoustic instruments. Since I also dabble in video game soundtracks, these are very dear to my heart. Finally, Drum Supply and Loop Supply refreshes Reason's drum sample collection in a big way. It'll take quite a while to go through just all the kick drums.

Reason 10 is being beta tested now (sign up here!) and will be released October 25th. I can't wait to hear all the fantastic music you'll be making with it.

Mattias Häggström Gerdt
Reason Product Manager

Posted Sept. 22, 2017, 8:58 a.m.

Posted May 16, 2017, 8:28 a.m.

”VST support in Reason? When hell freezes over.” That seems to have been the common way to express it. Now that you’ve all recovered from the shock I thought I’d give you some background to this decision of ours, and how we’re thinking about it going forward. But first I need to thank you all for the ridiculous amounts of positive feedback that we’ve received on the announcement of 9.5. I’ve been reading the comments in all the social media channels to get a feeling for how the news landed, and I must say that I blushed. We are seriously humbled and extremely grateful for your amazing support!

The reason is actually pretty simple: Because your music now requires it.

I won’t talk about how VSTs in Reason actually work, other people are better at communicating that. I just want to say something about why we did it and what it means going forward. The reason is actually pretty simple: Because your music now requires it. Musicians get inspired by a lot of things, but the instruments and effects themselves are certainly a big part, if not the biggest. There’s been an enormous explosion of cool plugins over the last few years. As a musician it’s wonderful to see so many developers unleashing their creativity in designs of all shapes and forms. And we just didn’t want Reason musicians to miss out on that. It was that simple.

As you may know, we’ve had some reservations on the plugin formats out there, VST included. The technical designs leave the host vulnerable to problems that might affect your song document. The lack of integration standards make basic tasks like finding sounds, automation, setting up remote control etc, harder than it should be. And that takes focus off what is always closest to our heart – your music making. And there are market problems too, finding the perfect EQ for your specific situation takes hours of unnecessary account registration and downloads. And purchasing a plug often means putting in your credit card on one web site and getting the actual product from another.

So, all of the above is what lead us to creating the Rack Extension format. It really does solve all of the above by cutting one giant Gordian knot.

Having said that, the VST world has really evolved too, in a very positive way. Technical quality is much better than it used to be. So is platform compatibility. The VST 2.4 standard has really gelled. And there are now integration conventions that allowed us to do what we think is the coolest VST implementation in any DAW, from a musical perspective, maximizing Reason resources such as cv and gate, the Combinator, players, browsing, etc.

But in the words of Agent Smith, “Why choose”? We now have three classes of devices in Reason, each one with its own merit, and that’s a good thing. There are the devices that come with the program when you buy it. There are the Rack Extensions that you can add after the fact. And now there’s a third category, VSTs. And make no mistake, we are committed to all three “formats” and will keep working on them all. For each one we will keep finding the optimal path forward, the path that supports you as a musician in the best way we can think of.

We are committed to the RE format and will keep working on it from all perspectives

I would also like to take this opportunity to say a word about the Rack Extension format, a word that is maybe more directed to our beloved developers, you who have supplied the Reason community with over three hundred amazing products so far. We have not stopped. As you know, we just did a serious update of the SDK this year, allowing you to create even cooler products. Next up is a serious update to the technology for building sampled based Rack Extensions. I think that shows that we are committed to the RE format and will keep working on it from all perspectives, both where it can go technically and how we can make your products available to Reason musicians all over the world. And if you’re thinking musicians are less interested in RE products, now that we have announced Reason 9.5, I can tell you that I have the data, and nothing could be further from the truth. If you want to check out what other developers have been doing really recently, look at Resonans, Arkana and the new version of ABL3 (specifically how it uses cv out). And yes, we’re all looking forward to ReSpire.

Last, I’ll take this chance to plug our yearly May Madness sales. Never before has there been so many cool Reason devices to choose from, at such amazing prices. Since we made Reason 9.5 a free update, you might just have some cash to spare. Don’t miss out.

Happy music making, and please keep the feedback coming, we couldn’t do our job without it.

Posted May 16, 2017, 8:28 a.m.

Posted Jan. 25, 2017, 8:41 a.m.

We're happy to announce that Reason 9.2 and a new version of the Rack Extension toolkit is now available!

When we created Rack Extensions we wanted to build a plug-in format that truly felt like Reason, with all the great workflow you guys expect. CV and audio connections, full automation, undo, integration with the Reason browser and much more.

Now, we've taken the next step! With Reason 9.2 and the new Rack Extension toolkit, developers can create devices with Reason's unique sampling feature and create much better, more user friendly interfaces with hideable widgets and panels, improved displays and more. We believe this will lead to even more exciting instruments, effects and utilities to help Reason users everywhere make more and better music. To show you just how great the new features are, Blamsoft and LoveOne have created two amazing synths.

Blamsoft's best-selling synth Expanse has been updated to version 2. The most exciting feature is that you can now load your own samples to create custom wavetables! It's also fully compatible with the Serum wavetable format, bringing an unfathomable number of new synth sounds to the Reason rack. I've personally had a lot of fun using Reason's sample feature to sample my guitar to create my own wavetables. Try it out and check the video below to see it in action.

Proton, developed by LoveOne in collaboration with Selig Audio, is a brand new synth and the first granular synth Rack Extension, which is exciting in itself. Based on the Neutron plug-in, Proton can load up any sample and synthesize new sound by throwing "particles" on the waveform to play parts of it. It sounds a bit like science fiction, but it's extremely fun and easy to use. Endless experimentation and interesting soundscapes awaits by simply dropping a sample on Proton and tweaking some parameters.

To update to Reason 9.2, simply launch Reason 9 or 9.1 and download your free update. And if you're on an earlier version or don't own Reason yet, there's never been a better time to get started. I'm really looking forward to see what new, exciting Rack Extensions that will be released. The only thing I know for sure is that there are now even more ways to get creative in the Reason rack.

Posted Jan. 25, 2017, 8:41 a.m.

Posted Sept. 14, 2016, 11:13 a.m.

We're very proud to announce that Reason 9.1 is now available, featuring support for Ableton Link!

Like many of us here in the office I'm in a handful of bands, so when Ableton approached us with integrating Link in Reason I was both professionally and personally intrigued. Making music together is something entirely different from creating by yourself. It's not better or worse, but it's different and incredibly rewarding. Sharing your ideas and inspiring each other will lead you to musical results that never would've happened otherwise. With Link in Reason, it's easier than ever to make music together—regardless of your software of choice.

To update to Reason 9.1, simply launch Reason 9 and download your free update. And if you're on an earlier version or don't own Reason yet, there's never been a better time to get started. It's been really fun working on Reason 9.1 and I'm sure you'll have even more fun making music with it.